A typical vehicle has at least one access door. Such a door typically has a latch mechanism for maintaining the door in a locked state until access into or egress from the vehicle is required. The latch mechanism is typically actuated by an outside door handle to gain access to the interior of the vehicle.
Some vehicles employ multiple side doors for access to the vehicle's interior. Commonly, when viewed from the front of the vehicle, such side doors are hinged proximate their front edge. Vehicles with multiple front-hinged side access doors typically employ a structural pillar, often called a B-pillar, on each side of the vehicle. Such pillars are generally situated between the access doors, and are used for mounting door hinges, as well as other various door and body hardware, thereto.
There are also vehicles that have multiple side doors, but do not employ a structural pillar between the doors. Instead, such pillar-less vehicles have a largely open space that gets selectively covered and uncovered by the multiple access doors. The pillar-less configuration is often used in vehicles employing a leading access door that is hinged near its front edge, but a trailing access door that is hinged near its rear edge. The absence of a structural pillar in such vehicles, however, removes a rigid and structurally sound location for mounting various door and body hardware.